Google engineer in Switzerland charged in $1.2M Polymarket plot

A Google software engineer is the latest person to be charged in connection with a prediction market insider trading scheme, federal authorities announced May 27.

Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen and Google employee based in Switzerland, plied his access via internal Google data to confidential information in order to make $1.2 million on Polymarket bets, federal prosecutors said. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where the case is being prosecuted, Spagnuolo made trades related to trends in Google search data, court documents say. 

"Today’s charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. "Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted."

Spagnuolo faces charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering arising from a scheme to misappropriate confidential information from his employer, prosecutors said.

The case out of New York City is the latest to come in connection with insider trading on prediction markets. The new financial forums allow users to bet on everything from the Super Bowl to developments in Ukraine’s efforts to fight off Russia’s invasion.

In April a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier involved in the raid to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was charged in connection with a scheme to make around $400,000 through Polymarket bets made on the raid. 

Lawyers for Spagnuolo could not be immediately reached for comment. The 36-year-old charged with fraud and money laundering faces up to 50 years in prison if found guilty.

USA TODAY has reached out to Polymarket for comment. After Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke was charged in connection with the Maduro bets scheme, the platform’s founder indicated they helped with the investigation and would continue to assist federal prosecutors uncover potentially illegal Polymarket trades. It’s unclear if any such help was provided in Spagnuolo’s case.

According to a federal indictment, Spagnuolo, using the alias "AlphaRaccoon," made Polymarket trades related to results of Google’s 2025 Year in Search results. The annual release of data shows the top searches from across the world. The results are based on analysis of confidential search data the company stores as part of its efforts to drive advertising. 

Some 4 billion people use the search engine and the Year in Search results are highly anticipated among aficionados for what they reveal about users’ interests. Among bets, Polymarket’s users traded on the most searched passing of the year. The top result? Conservative activist Charlie Kirk who was slain while delivering a talk on a college campus in September. 

Federal court filings say Spagnuolo made Polymarket trades on Google’s Top 5 Most Searched People of 2025 results, including making a winning bet that "D4vd," a rapper charged with killing a 14-year-old girl, would be the most searched person of the year. The market’s expected probability of the 21-year-old musical artist being the most searched person was near 0%.

Spagnuolo also made bets against figures expected to be in the top search results, including Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump.